The Third Wizarding War
by Stefan-sama
Summary: 2019: North Korea launches an attack on all Asia with the aim of uniting all of humanity under the banner of Dark Wizardry. With Hogwarts crippled in a preemptive strike and the hero Harry Potter missing, who is left to combat Darkness and reunite Erised?
1. A Dream of No Significance

**I'm really sorry for the crap summary; there's not enough character allowance to get in what I need to for an accurate and appealing descriptor of this story. It just might be for the better, though, in regards to those who were interested enough to get to this page after that summary (thank you very much for reading this), as it doesn't give away anything much that's vital to the plot. In any case, here is the first chapter to a semi-sequel to the _Harry Potter_ series- I use "semi" as the ties to the original series are few and far apart in the beginning. Of course, the main tie to _Harry Potter_ I now realize is quite similar to the premise of the recently-released _The Lost Hero_ by Rick Riordan. I hope it doesn't come across as such, as that wasn't at all my intention, even though the big-picture descriptors in this chapter are scarce (I'm aware not even noting this school's name in the first chapter probably isn't very smart, though it is in the next one). As a closing note, if anything I write is inconsistent with canon, please alert me and I'll fix the error straightaway. **

**The Third Wizarding War**

**I: A Dream of No Significance**

Unlike many, if at not all, of his classmates, End still preferred obtaining his news in print form, as opposed to the computers and phones and whatnot that were all too common. The crinkle of the folding pages was quite literally music to his ears, and by this point, likely the only thing that kept _The Imperial Examiner_ in business. In fact, it was much more commonplace to see him reading the newspaper than not when he had even the slightest spare time in the common room, and thus Minh was not surprised, though a tad miffed, to see him doing just that as he came through the dragon-head.

"Honestly," he began, plopping down on the neighboring chair with a sigh, closing his eyes and running his fingers along the soft fibers of the armrests. "Why don't you just get your fix online, like everyone else? Even you have to agree that anything in there has to be at least a day old." He leaned over and glanced at the front page. "Make that two days, this is an old paper."

End eyed him over the top of the paper. "I've explained it to you before. You didn't get it then, and there's no reason you would now." He paused for a second, scanning the pages listlessly. "On the other hand, the only reason you didn't get it before is because you were too busy checking out the girls passing by."

"Well, you can't blame me," Minh replied in mock annoyance, folding his arms across his bomber and sinking deeper into the chair. "Our school's got some pretty hot chicks. You're just annoyed at me because you're jealous that I actually have a shot with them."

Wordlessly and without looking up, End drew his wand from beneath his own jacket and flicked it up, sending a few stray sparks flying in his friend's direction. Minh correctly interpreted this as a silent indication that it was time for him to shut the hell up.

A couple minutes passed soundlessly, minus the occasional turning of a page on End's part. Judging that enough time had passed so that End wouldn't incinerate him on opening his mouth, Minh swung onto the top of the chair, vaulting from his to the next, and leaned down from his perch, obscuring End's view of the paper by folding his arms over his friend's eyes as he scanned the pages. Granted, though, it was much more to his own amusement from End's annoyance than a genuine interest in current events. End attempted to stab him through the chin with his wand, but much to his chagrin, Minh saw it coming and caught the wood in his teeth.

Minh grinned sadistically through the wand in his mouth, of which he was trying to ignore the wooden taste in his effort to both appear maniacal and piss off his friend. He failed rather spectacularly in the first endeavor, although that arguably enhanced the success of the second. "So, anything interesting happen lately?"

"Get off." End attempted to shove the wand clean through the back of Minh's neck, but succeeded only in getting him to fall off the chair with a loud _thud_. He turned another page idly and gave it a quick scan. "Hey, your family name's Nguyen, right?" he asked, looking to the floor beside him.

Minh pulled himself up on the armrest and looked over the newspaper, again getting in the way of End's line of sight. "Well, that's pretty much the only surname there is in Vietnam, but yeah. Why?"

End didn't answer the question directly, merely pointing to a little column in the upper-right corner of the _Examiner_. "And you said your grandmother owns a really big rice paddy, right?"

Minh leaned out a bit, so that he could actually see the words he was covering. "Yeah, but again, why?" He looked over at the top-right, muttering to himself as he did so. "Y'know, I always thought it was a bit racist to still be calling it _The Imperial Examiner_. I mean, I know it's a really old paper, but now that..." His voice trailed off as he read the article. "Oh, damn."

The cherry blossom streamers that covered the doorway leading to the girls' dormitory, having been put in last year in place of their own dragon-head, parted just then. A hand came through, lifting them out of the way, then Ren's head, followed by the rest of her ice-blue clad body, aiming a disparaging look in Minh's direction. He curled up and cowered. "Haven't I told you over and over that you need to watch what you say in the common room? If the first years repeated every profanity that came out of your mouth..."

"Then they'll probably double their vocabulary," End finished and smirked, leaning back in his chair. Minh mirrored Ren's glare. "But in any case, his grandmother's farm just got possessed by the Ministry. It says they're either converting the land into a dragon reservation or buying up the rest of the surrounding land to open a new Wizarding school that'd focus on traditional Asian magic in a Western setting. Like us, but a bit more traditional, I guess."

Minh snorted in derision, folding his arms in a huff and sinking back into the adjoining chair. "New Wizarding school my ass, they just want free rice. Why does Asia have to have so many Asians?"

Raising eyebrows simultaneously, End and Ren exchanged looks that were both bemused and amused. "Now who's the racist?" End asked with a grin, poking Minh between the eyes.

"Ah, leave me alone," Minh said, swatting away End's hand. "What's the matter, you've never seen a hypocrite?" He stood up and stretched, with a self-satisfied expression that clearly indicated his pride in the fact that he was a self-centered, obnoxious, narcissistic, egotistic, foulmouthed, selfish, hypocritical bastard. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast; today they're supposed to be serving an American breakfast. Bacon and eggs!" He vaulted over the handrail and began to slide down the stairway with a screech. End shook his head and threw the paper aside, Ren hung her head and sighed, and they followed after him.

Judging by the volume of the squeaking coming from below, Minh had already reached the bottom of the stairs and would now be either leaning against the wall in preparation to yell at them for "being slowpokes," macking on older girls, or attempting to scare first years. Usually it was the second that happened, and in that case Minh almost always went down and ate his breakfast in the end with a black eye. While this was always a great source of entertainment for End, he'd seen it so many times that he could replay at least twenty different versions of it perfectly in his head and thus had no pressing urges to see it happen live. He took his time, his steps echoing throughout the stairwell each time they met with the polished wood underfoot.

Ren reached into her messenger bag and drew out a stick of pocky, sucking on it as they descended. "Sleep well?" she asked, smiling and offering End a stick.

Nodding, he took one from the box she held out and bit off the end. "Yeah, thanks. Well, minus Minh's snoring, but I've gotten so used to it I hardly notice anymore." Ren smiled again. "You?"

"Pretty well. I had to stay up for an hour or so finishing Professor Ignatius's essay on a 'brief' ten-page history of wind usage in magic, and then a couple minutes after that to make sure Tess didn't copy too much of it, but I had a nice dream, so it averaged out."

"A dream, huh?" End took a quick pair of steps down from the last steps and held open the iron door for Ren. She inclined her head slightly, with a third renewed smile. "Lucky you, I never get dreams, no matter how hard I try. What about?"

She turned to him as she stepped into the hallway, meaning to answer the question, but End's prediction was fulfilled on two counts at once: Minh was indeed leaning on the wall, but with the unmistakably suspicious expression of one having rushed to appear relaxed, and his right cheek had the clear, red outline of a hand imprinted on it. "What're you laughing at?" he leered, End sniggering into his fist. His index finger shot out and pressed it to both of his friends' lips. "Don't answer that, either of you." They grinned.

Minh aimed a light kick to End's rear as he and Ren began the descent down the main stairs. As they'd arrived late due to their dawdling, they saw as they entered the hall that the ceremonial zodiac tables were occupied to their maximum capacity. End liked it better that way; he despised the rest of the Snake House, and Minh championed the ever-popular opinion that his own Horse House was filled with nothing but idiots. Ren enjoyed her mates in Rabbit, but preferred to sit with End and Minh at the neutral tables. They did just that, and the three plates they sat in front of were suddenly stacked to the brim with crisp bacon, buttery toast, steaming eggs, and syrup-laden pancakes. End leaned back in his seat and smirked as Minh grabbed two forks and began mashing his food into a quite unappetizing mess. Perhaps it'd be easier to drink that way.

End snapped twice; a nonexistent pitcher tipped water into his glass, which turned into iced lemon tea as it hit the bottom. Taking a sip and smacking his lips in satisfaction, he turned his head to the front wall. Above Headmaster Dip's extravagantly hatted head, the clock turned to eight thirty: on cue, an army of snow-covered animals barreled through the bewitched ceiling gate, spraying the usual powder onto the students' scalps. A couple first years screamed, still not used to the shock, but End scanned the mess of feathers and fur and whatnot for a trace of golden-brown feathers and sea-green eyes.

He was not disappointed; a few seconds later, Sken, a quiet Goshawk End had kept as a pet after Ren had found it injured in the forests in their second year, landed on the table and held out its right leg. Attached to it was a fresh copy of the _Examiner_, which he took and replaced with six knuts, to be collected by the paper's office when Sken returned for the next one. He ruffled the feathers on the hawk's head, who cooed affectionately in return and took off for the tower owlery.

Taking a swig of his coffee, blacker than his hair, amazingly, Minh leaned across the table and tipped the front page forward as End opened it up, both looking over for a sign of something interesting. "Anything about grand-mama's farm?" he asked nervously.

"How should I know, I've barely opened the thing!" End scowled, snatching back the paper and flipping through it moodily. "No, nothing new; just the usual doom and gloom, North and South Korea pissing each other off over the Runic Warheads. Oh, look, Fujian Fireballs back in last place. You'd think a dragon for a mascot would help them fly straight for ten seconds."

Minh cackled, long resigned to the failure of his chosen Quidditch team, while Ren took a small, involuntary gasp. "Oh, that reminds me; the dream I had last night." End raised an eyebrow and set the paper down. Even though they'd walked down the staircase together three minutes ago at most, he'd completely forgotten about the halted conversation. It certainly intrigued him much more than some article about the arrest of a couple of teenagers for 'magically painting a handlebar moustache on the Tiananmen mural of Glorious [Muggle] Chairman Mao.' He made a mental note to keep better mental notes.

"I saw a dragon and a tiger," she said, closing her eyes to remember better, "and they were facing each other from a ways away. The dragon was walking, and as it got closer to the tiger, it would multiply, until there were at least a hundred dragons." Minh snorted; End slapped him. Ren didn't notice and continued uninterrupted.

"And under the tiger, as if the tiger were guarding it, was a little dragon egg. The dragons attacked the tiger, and they died, one after another, but they didn't care: each and every dragon went straight for the egg without a second thought." She opened her eyes, frowning. "I woke up then. Do you think it means anything?"

Minh snorted again, folding his arms. "Of course; it's too cliché not to mean anything. Sounds more like some lame seventies cartoon than anything of legitimacy, though."

Ren thought for a moment, then nodded and began to cut apart a sausage. "Yeah, you're right. It does sound kind of stupid, doesn't it, End?"

Shrugging, he did likewise to his pancakes. He'd watched too many of those very stupid cartoons growing up to not be suspicious of dragons and tigers in dreams, but there was something to be said for shutting up when you actually had things to say about the Holy Mecha Kingdom Warriors. That was the last they said on the subject.


	2. An Owl Arrives

**Here's the second chapter. There's a fair bit of talking in this one; I was considering calling it "II: The One Where Shit Happens," but then I figured it didn't mesh well with the chapter's tone and I chickened out. The current title isn't much better, but I'm tired and I can't think of anything better. Feel free to suggest a new one. Getting back on topic, though, I think I might be rushing the story in its pace (or doing it a bit out of order), but we'll see how chapter three turns out. Enjoy for now.**

**II: An Owl Arrives**

Defense Against the Dark Arts was far and away the most popular class at Fenghuang School of Western Witchcraft and Wizardry for, among a smattering, two main reasons. It was quite the hands-on class: on most days, it consisted entirely of drilling dueling techniques and spells. This also meant that there were little to no writing portions aside from homework, something that students with friends at other schools were quick to gloat over. It certainly didn't hurt that the professor, Atellus Ignatius, with his dark, smooth hair, pale, sunken face, and quiet, cold, brooding and strong, firm personas, was considered by most of the female student body (and grudgingly, by the males as well) to be quite the attractive teacher.

Ren had gone ahead, having finished her breakfast faster. Ignatius had already begun to call roll as End and Minh snuck in from the back staircase, wiping away syrup from their faces and settling silently into the back seats, unseen. "Liu?"

"Present," End answered, quickly rearranging his face into one of aloof laziness, the type that hopefully meant that he'd been in his seat for hours.

Ignatius didn't look up. "As of five seconds ago. You and Nguyen- five minutes outside for tardiness, and another two for attempting to pass it off. No jackets. Leave your wands and staves."

Minh swore loudly as the entire class bit back a collective snigger, yanking his bomber off over his head and throwing it and his staff onto the floor in front of him. Of course, standing outside the classroom (situated on the first floor, with a door to the school courtyard) wouldn't be nearly as big of a deal if Fenghuang weren't located high on the face of the Himalayan mountain Lhoze. As it was, though, it was, and it had been one of the teachers' favorite methods of punishment since the school's founding.

End had been sent outside once before in his second year for jinxing a particularly hot under the collar substitute teacher when Professor Turner had gotten a bad case of dragon pox. The other teachers (minus Vale) had not been nearly as pleased as the students in regards to the substitute's handlebar moustache, and End had been given a month's worth of detention as well as an hour outside the grounds in addition. The moment he stepped outside again, he instantly remembered how it felt to have all four appendages completely frostbitten through. He glanced sideways: Minh's expression suggested similar thoughts.

The rest of the class seemed to be paying attention to whatever Ignatius was talking about, but would sneak smug smirks in their direction through the window and exaggerate taking their fur-lined uniforms on and off. Ren gave End a sympathetic half-smile, but paid complete attention to Ignatius aside from that. Minh began hopping up and down, rubbing his upper arms vigorously and muttering something about wandless magic under his breath.

Trying to take his mind off the insane cold that was currently arresting his limbs, End looked around, taking in his surroundings. The mountains rose high out of the mist on all sides, mighty and unmovable, blanketed with an artistic layer of piling snow. Annoyed, he noted that the sight would have been much more beautiful if he weren't freezing to death.

End was momentarily distracted by a far-off movement in the mists. Turning, he strained his eyes for what had attracted his attention. Minh saw him and copied the motion, curious, but neither was rewarded until at least a minute had passed.

The outline of a bird came into view, revealed to be a barn owl as it flew closer. Owls, especially of that sort, were rare enough in Asia, but End thought little of it until it came within five thousand or so meters: its flight was erratic, weaving from side to side in an almost drunken manner, and it seemed to be dripping blood profusely. Alarmed, he started forward and caught the bird as it dropped into his hands, emitting one feeble hoot as it died. It was vicious covered in cuts from head to claw; blood had almost dyed the feathers red.

"What the hell?" Minh grimaced at the sight as he came up, his face contorted in revulsion. "Who wants to cut up an owl like this?" He gave the creature one last look, stumbled in the snow, and ran to the building, banging on the doors and yelling to be let in.

There was a large commotion raised behind End, though he paid it little attention, instead devoting his focus to the faded scrap of paper he had just noticed was tied with to the owl's stiffened leg. Freeing it with some effort, he cast away the string and opened it with a crinkle, managing to catch a glimpse at the first of the contents, messy and unaligned.

_Fenghuang- urgent. Hogwarts_

Throwing the doors open with a loud bang, Igantius strode swiftly up to End, pointing his wand at the paper as his boots crunched through the snow. "_Accio Paper_," the professor said firmly, and the message was yanked from End's hands by invisible arm before he could read the rest. His face drained of color as he read the letter, turning pale white. Students pushed their way out of the door behind him, anxious for a look at the owl and its cargo, but were quickly sent scrambling back the way they came. "Inside, all of you. Now!" His voice carried with little effort, and he turned to End. "You; Liu. This came just now?"

End nodded quickly. "Yes sir. It dropped from the skies, I opened the letter, and you took it, all in sequence." He put extra emphasis on the last part, trying to imply that he wasn't done with the letter and thought it quite rude for it to be taken from him like that.

Furrowing his brow, Ignatius paused, thinking and apparently ignoring the stressed syllables in End's words, his expression unreadable. Finally, after what seemed almost an eternity, he turned to the class, who had bunched around the doorway, watching the scene from inside. "Go. Get to the common rooms or your dorms, I don't care which, as long as you stay there until further notice. Are we clear?" He hardened his gaze and they all gulped and nodded, some of the weaker already starting a mad scramble for the stairway. He followed them in, tapping his wand to his throat and saying forcefully, "_Sonorus!_

"All students," he began, his voice now magnified and booming across the school, and near well enough, by the sound of it, the entire country. "Please follow emergency procedures and report to the common rooms or the dormitories and await further instructions. Twelve House Heads, assemble in the Hall.

"_Quietus_," he finally finished, tapping his throat again. "Liu, come with me." Without awaiting response, the professor swept his cape behind him and set off quickly down the stairs.

End glanced sideways at his friends as he followed: Ren had a scared expression and clung loosely to Minh's arm, whose face was grim and serious for once. They made brief eye contact, and End exited the room.

He hurried to catch up with Ignatius, who was already halfway down the corridor, and was conversing in rushed, forceful tones with Professor Turner. Turner was also immensely popular among the students, his teaching style casual, and friends with almost all he taught Transfiguration to. Today, though, Turner's expression was one so rare that End had never seen it before, that of shock and anger, and thus he thought it best to keep silent and listen to the conversation.

"But that's impossible, isn't it? Those rumors were baseless!"

"Baseless as they may have been, the fact of the matter is that a basilisk was there. That's the only logical conclusion we can draw based on that fact, no matter how improbable."

"But that in itself isn't infallible. What if this is all one big prank, what if the letter's a fake? We haven't any evidence that this actually happened!"

End was, of course, quite confused at these statements, missing the vital context, and thus was quite annoyed at himself for not noticing the letter sooner and reading it when he had the chance. He followed his teachers into the Central Hall, Ignatius throwing the oaken doors open forcefully. Unsure of what to do, even of what he was supposed to be doing there, he stood behind Ignatius and scratched the back of his neck.

The air was tense, the unsettling atmosphere almost tangible, and it showed no signs of becoming lighter as the rest of the teachers filed in. The usually cheery faces of the young Professors Vale and Lupin were solemn and rattled, respectively, having just exchanged hushed whispers with Turner. Professor Zhou's hands were folded over his mouth, emotionless as usual, and he surveyed the others silently, as if waiting for someone to say something. Headmaster Dip was nowhere to be seen, as usual in times as these, and the rest of the teachers simply looked bewildered.

End almost jumped, as did six of the other professors, as Ignatius stopped drumming his fingers on the table and cleared his throat. "I've called you all here because we've just received news of an emergency at our sister school, one that will no doubt have ramifications on the magical operations of the entire supercontinent of Eurasia at the very least," the teacher said, producing the parchment from the folds of his cloak. "It'll be faster explaining to simply read off the letter." Everyone present leaned in closer, curious, with bated breath.

"_Fenghuang- urgent. Hogwarts attacked by masked army with basilisk. At least one hundred. Sign in sky seen, similar to Dark Mark. Most evacuated, sixth and seventh years massacred fighting, along with multiple teachers. Sending some students to you. Letter also sent to other schools. Do not reply. –Longbottom."_

There was a heavy silence that hung in the air as Ignatius finished reading, save the last, lone echoes of the letter, floating trapped in the rafters of the hall. The twelve faces seated ranged spectacularly in their displays, from shock, to anger, to distress, to fear. End shifted his feet uncomfortably.

Suddenly there was a massive surge of talking, the disorganized voices blending together in their babbling, rendered unintelligible among each other.

"The Dark Mark? The Western Ministry and the High Wizengamot rounded up all of the Dark Lord's supporters after the Second Wizarding War!"

"There can't possibly have been a basilisk! The Parselmouths died out a decades ago with the fall of Voldemort, with the mere exception of the Harry Potter boy!"

"_That's_ what you noticed? A wizarding school was just attacked by an organized group of wizards and its students killed!"

"Was it Hogwarts specifically? They might target us, or the other schools around the globe. We should strengthen our defensive measures quickly."

"What are we going to do about the arriving evacuees? The entire mountain's covered in hex traps; someone needs to get down there to escort them immediately."

His face grim, Ignatius leaned back in his chair and whispered in End's ear. "As you can see, we'll only be debating from here. I brought you down so that a) you wouldn't start rumors from the glimpse of the letter you got, and b) should we be attacked before our new procedures are implemented, I want someone to be informed. Not a word of any of this to anyone until either the refugees arrive and we explain the situation to the school or the second condition is fulfilled, understand?"

End nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir."

"You may leave."

"Thank you, sir." Attempting to keep his composure in view of his teacher, End nodded and bowed, turned, walked through the doors calmly, and sprinted with all his might back to the nearest common room. He slammed into more than a few ink tapestries, the subjects of which shouted, screamed, mooed, and whinnied back at his retreating form indignantly. He ignored them, and the bruises he was receiving from crashing through the corridors, in his rush.

End had never exactly been the most athletic in his class, even at the Muggle primary school he had attended in his youth with Ren, and was thus quite surprised at how long and how fast he had been running. "Oh, wait- the Professor said this was under a gag order," he said to no-one in particular even as he ran, noting that, as he wasn't allowed to tell anyone, it didn't matter how quickly he got back. He told his feet to stop it, but they didn't want to listen to him. Apparently stuck on autopilot, he let himself go and was carried to the Red Room.

As End placed his palm on the vertical line running down the middle of the doors, it melted away under his hand to reveal a pair of wooden handles that he pulled open to reveal the Red Room behind. This particular common room was under the domain of Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, and Horse Houses, consecutive on the Zodiac, and one for each Trine. Why the Trines were not arranged in order was anyone's guess, and had long been a source of speculation among the student body (the predominant consensus was that the school layout had been erroneously designed by foreigners). End didn't mind as much, as this placed him in the same common room as Minh and Ren, who he looked for immediately among the crowd.

The general air in the room was not much better than that of the Central Hall he had just left, being stuffy from all the people and filled with nervous tension. Evidently, not many had chosen to go to the dorms, instead choosing to about what had forced them up to the common rooms in the first place, or about the usual trivialities that always accompanied mixed-gender schools filled with teenagers. End had no use for either sort of conversation, and wove his way through the masses.

"End! End!" Minh waved at him from his perch on the left rest of an armchair over the heads of a couple giggling Horse girls. Ren sat beside him on the main cushion, calmer, but still looking apprehensive and gripping Minh's hand tightly. "What happened?"

Finally getting up close to them, he shook his head. "Sorry, I can't say. Professor Ignatius made the matter classified."

"But it's nothing serious?" Ren asked as Minh slumped back in his seat. "If it were anything dangerous they'd have at least told us something, right?"

End was momentarily taken aback. "Um…" he stalled, staring into Ren's worried eyes. They were a dark hazel-brown, and stared at him intensely, seeming to search the depths of his brain. "Yeah," he finally lied. "It's nothing big; no cause to panic." Ren closed her eyes and sighed in relief. Seeing her breathe, End had half a mind's thought to disregard the gag order, but figured that it didn't matter either way considering he'd already lied. He kept his mouth shut.


	3. Loomings

**I'm fairly proud of this chapter: twenty-five hundred words about pretty much nothing. Hooray for priorities. Anyway, yeah, it's called "Loomings," because like in the first chapter of Moby Dick, nothing happens. Anyways, for this chapter's main teachers, in case I wasn't clear enough, that isn't Remus Lupin, it's Teddy Lupin, I figure that he'd be able to get a job at a Wizarding School, and since we didn't get anything of his magical ability in the epilogue to _Deathly Hallows_, I figured that he'd be suited to Magical Creatures due to his half-werewolf blood. Also, Professor Chang's first name is, yes, Cho- I'm aware that she married a Muggle, but in this continuity it was a businessman who works abroad for most of the year. I've got the other teachers all planned out, but those are the only characters that aren't original. They'll be making appearances later. In any case, the very end of this chapter's a bit weak, I couldn't figure out how to end it, so look forward to the next one.**

**III: Loomings**

Predictably enough, half an hour later, almost the entire school was bunched in the corridors adjacent to the Entrance Hall, all craning their necks over each other to get a glimpse of the arrivals. End had thought for a moment that this was more than a bit insensitive, to be ogling them after the trauma they had no doubt just witnessed, but as he looked on among the others, he realized that there was no helping the fact that curiosity had quite the sway over tact, and so he disregarded his previous hypocrisy.

The hall was not lit very well on the part of Ho, the old caretaker, figuring the Hogwarts students wouldn't exactly appreciate copious amounts of light at this time. The theory was good, but as End looked on, the eyes of all the arrivals that shuffled slowly through, twenty or thirty in number, all seemed to be devoid of any emotion and stared ahead dead.

There was one among the many others, though, that caught his interest: a boy slightly younger than he was that was shepherding along an even younger, redheaded girl who was sobbing into her hands. Most of his appearance seemed to be quite normal, with unkempt brown hair, a t-shirt under his robes, and black, untied shoes. But his eyes: green, almond-shaped, and filled with a sort of fearful, yet determined and resolute flame that stared forward and not merely ahead.

End gave a sort of half-turn and tapped Minh on the shoulder while attempting to keep his eyes on the other boy (missing at first, though, and bonking Park Sungmin in the eyes), but the boy's back was already retreating into the Central Hall by the time he had pried Minh's gaze away from another redheaded girl, though that one was older, and it didn't seem criminal to call that one pretty.

As the last of the new students disappeared and the Fenghuang body breaking into a nearly uproarious chatter, Headmaster Dip tried waving to the crowd, his beard and hat flopping about, but the students, and End, paid him no further attention than that. Shaking her head resignedly, Professor Vale stepped forward, saying "_Mobilicorpus!_" and "_Sonorus!_" in quick succession as she pointed her wand at herself. She subsequently became suspended a couple feet in the air, and, like Professor Ignatius had done not too long ago, her voice magically amplified many times over, which quickly silenced the students.

"All right, everyone, please settle down. I understand you all may be surprised or even fearful over today's odd events, but please go quickly and quietly to your second period class with the assurance that everything will be handled smoothly with no need for worry. You have a half hour of that left, and after that your schedules will continue as they should. And by all means, do not disturb the Hogwarts students. Dismissed!" A few students broke off and headed in different directions, but the majority stayed in the Hall and ignored Vale's directions, still talking at top volume.

"Go on, then!" boomed Ignatius's unmistakable voice, though it was loud enough when he was sufficiently aggravated to not need any sort of tone-raising magic, causing more than a few to jump where they stood.

"Unless you all want to stay here so badly you wouldn't mind a Permanent Sticking Charm put on your shoes?" Professor Sun joined in, equally loud.

There were some high-pitched squeals of laughter from a large group of Monkey girls at these, but most shot Ignatius and Sun surly looks as they slung their bags over their shoulders. Slowly but surely, the crowd trickled away, as did End and Minh. Ren had left earlier and to the West Wing, as she took Herbology during her second period with the other Rabbits, Rams, and Tigers in their year.

Minh pulled up his bomber tightly around his neck as they walked quickly down the stone steps to the Atrium, shivering and rubbing his gloved hands together. The mountain air didn't feel as cold to End, but he figured that was because he had so much on his mind. Though it might just have been a comparison issue, he thought, as Minh had been raised in the scorching heat of Southern Vietnam and had never quite gotten used to the cold Himalayan temperatures.

It seemed as though Minh opened his mouth to speak as they walked on, though that might just have been him chattering harder. But, as End cut him off by commenting that, "Sorry, Professor Ignatius put the matter under a gag order, I can't tell you anything," Minh shut up with a general air of annoyance, so it probably wasn't the cold after all. The rest of the way to the Atrium was quiet, save the crunching of the snow underfoot.

They fell in with the others filing into the building, though their progress was hampered slightly by the gaggle of students bunched around the entrance, taking off their coats and scarves and all the extra articles of clothing that were now rendered useless in the heat of the Atrium. They followed suit after a few minutes jumping around in the snow, more than a bit jealous that the people inside were looking toasty warm through the windows and not having the decency or common sense to get out of the entryway.

Finally, the class settled down on their usual benches situated around the perimeter of the clearing in the center of the humid forest. Or, at least, they settled down as much as they could, considering the activities of that morning. End and Minh took seats on the benches nearest the entryway, having come in last when all the other seats had been filled.

Professor Lupin emerged from the foliage. A fair amount of muttered whispers broke out among the class, for his face was quite uncharacteristically dark, sallow, even dead in appearance. Gone was his usual cheerful greeting, replaced by doleful silence as he looked around, though it didn't appear as if he saw anyone.

"The _kitsune_ are in the pens. Continue where we left off." Heads turned to each other, the silent question on everyone's lips being, 'how are we supposed to continue if we never started?" Lupin's eyes were empty, though, so thankfully enough no one protested and went off to teach themselves about the fox-beasts.

It was a pity, End thought as he fed one of the foxes a fire-cracker, its five tails wiggling appreciatively. Professor Lupin was normally such a pleasant man, always smiling and laughing, friends with all his students, especially since he was only a few years older than them. He even allowed most students to call him by his given name, Teddy, when in private, or at least when not around other faculty. He also had a way with dogs, wolves, foxes, and the like: all in all, not as attractive as Ignatius, but with his own brand of charm that also ensured him a sizeable following of female students. Today, though, that was gone, and the reek of death about him was reflected among everyone there. Not exactly a pleasant mood, for sure.

Minh looked over his shoulder at their Professor, then to one of the transformed _kitsune_, now a beautiful woman with long, jet-black hair and deep almond eyes, much to his and the class's girls' annoyance and the delight of the Hoshigaki twins, then back to Lupin. "What's the matter with the Professor?" he asked End, though still not looking at him.

End fed the fox another fire-cracker, though it still didn't transform. "He mentioned he had friends and family in and around Hogwarts once or twice, didn't he?"

"Oh, that's right. Poor Professor, I wish there was something we could do to cheer him up. Then maybe he'd teach us how to get these foxes to transform," he muttered wistfully, again glancing at Lupin's hunched-over form.

End smirked, though he was unsure of whether to do that or frown. "Sensitive as ever, aren't you? Honestly, it's like the emotional part of your brain was swapped out for a horny part."

"And what's wrong with that? Your problem is you've _no_ interest in women, see? Always curled up on the sofa with your nose in the papers."

He switched to frowning. "Hey, hey, when did we get to insulting me? We're supposed to be cheering up Professor Lupin!" He tossed a third fire-cracker to the floor, though the _kitsune_ was evidently full and had no interest in further snacks. It turned its back to them and did not transform.

"Wouldn't it be smarter to just leave him alone for now?" piped up Sun Xian-Li from the adjacent stall. "There's nothing we can do at the moment, we can't exactly tell him to cheer up, can we?"

"Ugh… I guess," Minh yawned, folding his arms behind his head and leaning again the door-post. "But if I ever find out who's responsible for this attack, I'll introduce their faces to my foot."

One of the Hoshigaki twins snorted derisively, the one with the dyed-blonde hair, Ken. "Good luck with that. They completely destroyed a well-defended wizarding school, and you lose half of your duels to me."

His twin Ryu nodded. "I'd love a shot at them too, regardless of the odds, but only the sixth and seventh years get field assignments, remember?"

There was a collective groan shared by Ken, End, Minh, Xian-Li, and everyone else who had been listening to their conversation. The last years were the ones most looked forward to and envied by the student body: unlike its sister in Scotland, Fenghuang existed not only as a school, but as a sort of paramilitary organization that protected the eastern and southeastern Asian wizarding community. That distinction rarely, if ever, applied to the primary years, though, much to the chagrin of said younger students, especially the fifth years, being closest to fieldwork eligibility.

"Ah, well. Maybe we'll get lucky." Minh muttered, smacking his fist to his palm. End expressed his sympathies with a silent nod. He wasn't exactly averse to taking his own shot at the enemy, unknown as they may have been.

* * *

><p>The most annoying thing about End's schedule was the placement of his subjects. For the most part, he loved each and every class he took, but every year the coordination seemed to find new ways to screw him over. Care of Magical Creatures was situated in the Atrium, a full ten minute's walk from the Charms classroom on the second floor, despite the three to five minute intervals between classes. He and the other fifth-year Snakes constantly found themselves tired, out of breath, and barely missed being late by the time they got to Charms.<p>

Minh didn't take Charms at the same time End did, so they went in opposite directions as they came into the Entrance Hall, End running up the stairs, Minh turning into the left hall with the other Horses to Potions class. As was normal, they piled into the room just as the bell struck eleven. Professor Chang usually gave them a mini-lecture when they did so, as apparently if they were going to be late they should just come in late, but civilized (most protested that they'd be perfectly on time if only allowed to run full speed).

As was evidently becoming the standard, though, Professor Chang looked slightly disorientated, and she had to blink a few times before she could say, "Good morning, class!" There was a deafening scraping of chairs on the stone floor as the class took their seats. Ren waved at him from the very top row at the far end. He squeezed past a couple of disgruntled-looking Rats with bated breath and sat down as Professor Chang cleared her throat.

"Erm… Yes, all right. Today we'll be continuing the work from last class… What was it?" The same worried looks that were exchanged a half-hour earlier in Magical Creatures were duplicated, as Professor Chang was always the most on top of things out of all the teachers. "Oh, yes," she finally managed to continue, "Summoning Charms. Remember, point straight at the object, picture it shooting towards you, and say "Ack-see-oh" clearly. Go ahead."

One of the students in the front row, a skinny-looking Indian, shot his hand in the air, nearly knocking off his glasses. "Teacher, you forgot to call roll," he said loudly, without waiting to be called on.

She blinked again. "Oh, oh yes. Start working and I'll call out names. Er-" –she fumbled around for the attendance list, apparently forgetting that the very charm she was supposed to be teaching was for summoning- "-Ashina!"

A high-pitched reply came from a short girl in the third row while the class pulled out their wands and staves and started pointing them at various objects around the room. "_Accio!_" End murmured under his breath, aiming at the pack of potato chips one of the Monkeys had smuggled in. The snack zoomed towards the tip of his wand and he popped it into his mouth, unnoticed by the other boy.

The nice thing about Charms was that it required little supervision, so Professor Chang only really paid attention to the students that really needed help. This freed up the rest of the students, especially End and Ren, being consistently at the top of the class, to talk freely as they practiced their magic. "_Accio! Depulso!_" Ren repeated, summoning and banishing one of the designated rubber balls with little effort in quick succession. "Hey, I hear there's going to be another field exam tomorrow. You ready for it?" she began.

"I guess," End replied, replicating the motion and sending a ball zooming back and forth over Cho Yohan's head. "Anything's going to be better after the last one. I still can't believe that they'd set us tracking snow leopards without any food."

Another point, another ball. "But it tested us pretty well, didn't it? It was pretty ingenious how Jun used a Taboo curse when he figured out how to reproduce the leopard's growl."

"Hmph," End muttered, folding his hands over his chest. "I still think the Intruder Charms I placed all over the mountain would've worked well if we'd only had more time."

Ren smiled. "Well, we got points for coming up with multiple solutions, didn't we?" End shrugged, sighing. "Anyway, I wonder what we're going to have to do next. We haven't done any Potions tests in a while…"

Professor Chang looked up at them from the floor. "Liu? I've been calling your name for the last minute."

"Sorry, Professor!" he yelled back down over the chatter. "I thought you were calling for Huai-Shao!"

"I said 'Liu Xuande,' didn't I?" She shook her head. "That's one point."

"Oops. Sorry, Professor!" He turned back to Ren as Chang resumed reading off the list. "Looks like she's getting it back together. Good, I was starting to worry."

Ren glanced back down at the teacher, twirling a strand of her hair absentmindedly. "I don't know, actually, she still seems kind of out." She paused. "I feel bad, Professor Yu was acting the same way. Isn't there something we can do?"

End raised his eyebrow. "You're asking me?"


	4. The Green Eyed Boy

**I'm not especially fond of this chapter for a couple reasons. First off, it's fairly shorter than the others: not taking this paragraph into account, it comes in at a little under two thousand. That plays off my second reason: it's shorter because I got fed up with taking so long to write it. It has been two months since chapter three, after all. The main reason it took so long was because I had to go through a couple drafts of it due to the ever-dreaded writer's block, but as it is, I suppose it couldn't be too much better. At the very least, I set a new personal record for the length-to-stuff-happening-ratio. A pretty boring chapter, I'll be the first to admit, but it sets up fairly well for the next. Look forward to it. Please.**

**IV: The Green-Eyed Boy**

End always looked forward to lunchtime, as not only did the cooks do a magnificent job with the food, it allowed him to get some food in his stomach to prepare him for what came next. His classes following break were either Fine Arts, Arithmancy (much to the chagrin of his parents), or today, Herbology, none of which he was any good at. While he could deal with that in itself, the Professors for the latter two, Sun Xingzhe and Tang Lan-Lien respectively, were both family friends, and he hated screwing up in front of them especially.

He, Minh, and Ren thus made the most of their break by simultaneously eating, playing board games, cram-studying, and talking about whatever they fancied, and today was no different. "_Ryu'o_, capture the _ginsho_," Minh managed to spit out between gulps of noodles. The miniature horseman rode forward and dodged the volleys of arrows thrown by the enemy pawns, slashing at the opposing figurine.

"Oh, damn," End sighed, leaning back as the figurine crumpled in a shower of blood. "Hey, who was it that used gurdyroots in anesthetic?" he asked no-one in particular, flipping through _Western Plants in Medicine_.

"Hua Tuo, and the anesthetic was _ma-fei-san_," Ren replied, sprinkling sugar into her tea absentmindedly. "Professor Hua is his direct descendant, apparently." A couple minutes passed with no more noise than the indistinct chatter of the House tables in the background and the screams of the chess figurines in the foreground.

The oak doors at the front of the hall swung open with their usual deafening creak. This was by no means an odd occurrence during lunch break, as people came and went like the tides, and no one normally paid the doors any attention, not when there were more pressing matters available to be given attention to, like food. This time, however, End felt an inexplicable urge to follow the noise: glancing backwards, he caught the eye of the very same boy he had noticed that morning.

As the boy came closer, End was able to see the green eyes again in full clarity. They still had traces of that mysterious, resolute flame burning in them, but they seemed exhausted now, half-closed, closer to the others from that morning. Only when the boy had come within a few feet of End did he notice that the boy was not alone.

"Hello, popkin," Professor Sun grinned, ruffling Ren's hair as he came up to the table with the boy. "How are things?"

Ren struggled with her father's hand, trying to push him off. "Please, father, not with my friends!" End's lip curled upward involuntarily: Ren and her father were quite close, but she didn't like admitting it, at least not in public, and was probably biting back her own smile. Professor Sun was a pleasant man, nothing like End's own father, and took every opportunity to make the people around him laugh. Really, he felt closer to Professor Sun, having spent so much time at his house when his father was off being important.

"End, Minh." He nodded to both of them in turn, and they mirrored the gesture. "I've got something serious here for you for once." He motioned to the seat next to Ren, which the boy took wordlessly, promptly folding his arms on the table and laying his head between them. "Special assignment today. This is the only evacuee that's unhurt, but he hasn't said a word since he's arrived, aside from 'Lily' when he was in the infirmary with the others. I've talked to Professor Tang, I've given you all permission to take the period off. Get him to talk, alright? We need information about the attack as soon as possible."

End glanced down at the boy uncomfortably: he didn't seem anywhere near wanting to talk. "…Yes, sir," he finally replied. Minh tilted his head to the side for a moment to think, then agreed, as did Ren.

Professor Sun smiled, conjuring a china plate from thin air with a flick of his wand and setting it down in front of the boy, who gave it no acknowledgment. "Thank you. And make sure he eats some too, he looks famished." He swiped a dumpling from Ren's plate, dodged the grab she made for it, and left with a flourish of his cape.

Sighing, Ren picked at the remainder of her dumplings absentmindedly in the natural silence that always accompanied the wake of Professor Sun. She turned to the boy beside her suddenly, setting her hand on his arm. "…What would you like to eat?" she asked, the nervousness in her voice failing to be hidden, causing her voice to be barely audible above the lunchtime noise. "…Would you like something to eat?" she repeated louder with some effort after taking a breath. Still, he remained silent and motionless.

Minh leaned forward, placing his chin in his palm, his elbow propped up on the table. His other hand held a pair of chopsticks that pointed at the empty plate. "Just give him some food if he won't talk. If he's hungry, he'll eat, right?" he said with a hint of impatience. End and Ren nodded in agreement of the logic inherent in this, so the former snapped his fingers twice and summoned a steaming bowl of noodles and three pork-filled dumplings to accompany it. The boy made no sign that would indicate his notice of the food.

Silence, and an uncomfortable one. End realized he'd lost his appetite about half an hour ago, but hadn't the strength, or rather, motivation, to push the food away. Ren and Minh exchanged nervous, awkward looks.

"James…"

All three heads swiveled immediately to face the boy, but he'd buried his head in his arms and gave off the distinct aura of one who wouldn't appreciate anyone talking to him. The whispered name had barely been audible, in any case. End hadn't heard the name before, and the looks on his friends' faces suggested the same, so the subject was moot between just themselves.

Minh shook his head with a sigh as he leaned back and popped another dumpling into his mouth. "Your dad's in for one major disappointment, Ren." She nodded glumly.

* * *

><p>End almost wished that he was attending Herbology instead of taking care of the still-nameless boy, but then he remembered that he'd put off his free research essay on local plants and their magical uses, and so didn't mind his task as much as he would've. He resolved to finish it when he got the chance: the first thought he'd had in about half an hour. The newfound free time had been spent otherwise in the empty hospital wing corridor by all three telling the other two to start thinking, to little progress. The green-eyed boy had sat motionless in the meantime.<p>

Another minute passed in silence, in which the only activity consisted of Minh raising his hand, as if getting an idea, but faltering as he opened his mouth and proceeding to slump back and discreetly pick at his nose. End felt fairly hollow inside, but waved it off as hunger and settled further into the bench.

The beginning of the period had been the most productive one, as it should have been. Bereft of any other real option, they'd moved to the hospital wing, figuring that the earlier utterance of "James" might have referred to one of the other refugees. It had seemed like a good idea, of course, but they hadn't counted on Professor Hua refusing admittance into the infirmary to any and all persons. Even a concerned Professor Aartsen had been denied entry a while back, and so they'd settled for simply waiting instead of arguing their way in: an enterprise that was shaping up to take far longer than it should.

After another time, the hall filled up with the chattering of waves of students going either way to whatever class they had next. End checked the watch on his wrist, and gathered that what would've been Herbology had ended, with still no progress on their part. Professor Sun really hadn't specified any time limit, but he still felt more than a tad useless as he sat there idly. Next to him, Ren had fallen asleep and was drooling slightly. Minh had taken to practicing his backflips down the hall once they cleared up again, but his hardened facial expression also suggested irritation derived from the roadblock they'd hit. The boy sat motionless yet across from them, his head ever pointed downward, the emerald flame long since dead.

The next period came and went in much the same matter, whatever it was supposed to have been. Ren woke up briefly, but quickly went back to sleep at End's reassurance. He tried sorting through his thoughts to make sense of recent events, but nothing new came of it. One of the few things End's father had bothered to teach him when the man wasn't away on some sort of business was meditation, but evidently he hadn't done a very good job of it: a minute or two after he assumed the proper stance, he found his mind drifting again, though to less important things this time around. Eventually, he dozed off as well.

In what seemed like a minute later, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and proceeded to shake back and forth violently. Blinking, he noticed with some annoyance that next to him, Minh was waking Ren up much more delicately. However, his irritation was forced to take a temporary backseat to matters of a more pressing sort. The infirmary door was open, and the boy was slowly stumbling through it. End sprang to his feet and followed him in.

End had never enjoyed hospitals or other such facilities: people in pain always made something drop in his stomach. Magic establishments were certainly better due to their more efficient treatment, but he still felt queasy weaving through the rows of occupied beds, most of them with students his age. He felt Ren tense up beside him, but Minh didn't seem to mind and quickly made his way to a bed in the corner that was partially obscured by a veil.

He almost threw up as they drew up to the bed. Lying in it was the little red-haired girl from that morning, but now, without her cloak to cover anything, her stomach was shown to be fully covered by a strip of bandage that was almost completely dyed red in blood. A faint, smoking green line straight down the middle of the cloth suggested some sort of poultice applied to a cut, though the thought of what a cut of that magnitude was doing on such a small girl made End's knees rather weak. She was gripping the green-eyed boy's hand tightly, who was already seated next to her. She also seemed to be attempting to whisper something to him, but looked visibly pained with the effort.

Ren had completely frozen up, her hands clasped over her mouth, though nothing was coming out of it. Minh pulled her back slowly, swallowing grimly. "…And we're really supposed to make them talk about what happened?" he asked, turning away.

"Just… Give them some space for now, I guess," End muttered, his voice hollow.


End file.
